Archibald  Henderson 


Bjr 

C.  ALPHONSO  SMITH,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  L.H.D. 


HEAD  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  ENGLISH 
U.  S.  NAVAL  ACADEMY,  ANNAPOLIS,  MARYLAND 


PREPARED  FOR  THE 

LIBRARY  SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 

VOL.  XVII,  NEW  EDITION,  1923 


THE  MARTIN  AND  HOYT  COMPANY 
Atlanta,  Georgia 


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Archibald  Henderson 


By 

C.  ALPHONSO  SMITH,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. ,  L.H.D. 


Head  of  the  Department  of  English,  U.  S.  Naval  Academy 

Annapolis,  Maryland 


PREPARED  FOR  THE 

LIBRARY  OF  SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 

17  Volumes  Now  Published 


Editors  in  Chiej 

EDWIN  ANDERSON  ALDERMAN  C.  ALPHONSO  SMITH 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA  U.  S.  NAVAL  ACADEMY 

Literary  Editors 

CHARLES  W.  KENT 
JOHN  CALVIN  METCALF 

Assistant  Literary  Editors 

MORGAN  CALLAWAY,  JR.  FRANKLIN  L.  RILEY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  TEXAS  WASHINGTON  AND  LEE  UNIVERSITY 

GEORGE  A.  WAUCHOPE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 


THE  MARTIN  AND  HOYT  COMPANY 
Atlanta,  Georgia 
1923 


|  UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA 


Copyright  1923  by 
The  Martin  and  Hoyt  Company 
Atlanta,  Georgia 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


https://archive.org/details/archibaldhendersOOsmit 


- 

. 


,  .  ..  1  i  .! .  .  1 1  .  ■■  ' 


Archibald  Henderson 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 

[1877—  ] 


C.  ALPHONSO  SMITH 


LETTER  recently  received  from  Archibald  Henderson  con- 


l  \  tains  this  passage:  “I  think  the  greatest  contribution  to  human 
thought  in  my  time  is  Einstein’s  generalized  theory  of  relativity — 
the  most  profound  and  fecund  projection  of  human  thinking  I  have 
ever  matched  my  mind  against.  It  has  taxed  me  greatly  in  recent 
months;  and  I  am  still  digging  in  the  depths.  But  I  see  the  sun 
shining  at  the  end  of  the  tunnel.  I  see  my  way  out  of  the  maze.” 
The  letter  is  characteristic.  Back  of  it  is  seen  a  man  who  feels  the 
instant  challenge  of  the  complicated  and  problematical,  who  couches 
his  lance  for  the  big  things  of  life,  and  who  will  not  draw  rein  or 
sound  retreat  until  victory,  seeming  or  real,  has  been  achieved.  He 
is  not  only  mathematician,  dramatic  critic,  biographer,  essayist,  lec¬ 
turer,  and  historian,  but  breaks  through  the  boundaries  of  each  for 
predatory  excursion  into  other  domains.  I  know  no  one  who  keeps 
a  larger  intellectual  area  under  intensive  cultivation  than  Archibald 
Henderson. 

Browning  has  somewhere  spoken  of  the  central  and  unifying 
thought  of  a  poem  as  “the  imperial  chord  which  steadily  underlies 
the  accidental  mist  of  music  springing  therefrom.”  Is  there  such  an 
imperial  and  unifying  chord  in  Dr.  Henderson’s  writings?  I  think 
so.  Glance  at  the  appended  Bibliographj^.  There  is  great  variety, 
it  is  true,  but  greater  unity.  Each  of  his  more  notable  works,  in 
other  words,  is  the  study  not  of  something  stationary  but  of  a  move¬ 
ment.  Subjects  attract  him  in  proportion  as  they  resolve  themselves 
into  modes  of  motion.  He  shoots  his  game  only  on  the  wing.  If  I 
understand  him  aright,  it  was  not  the  humor  of  Mark  Twain  that 
stirred  Dr.  Henderson’s  instinct  for  appraisal;  it  was  rather  the 
humanist  beneath  the  humorist,  a  humanist  whose  attitude  to  so¬ 
ciety  seemed  to  sum  a  passing  and  to  project  a  coming  era.  It 
was  not  Shaw  per  se  that  gripped  him ;  it  was  the  career  of  one  who 
views  the  achievements  of  the  past  as  mere  scaffolding  for  the  future. 
It  was  not  the  captivating  style  of  William  James  that  drew  his  atten¬ 
tion  to  Boutroux’s  essay;  it  was  the  beckoning  of  the  new  psychol¬ 
ogy  that  recognized  in  James  its  most  illustrious  champion.  It  was 
not  the  modern  ‘  drama  as  a  superior  form  of  literature  that  chal¬ 
lenged  his  championship;  it  was  the  battle  between  the  new  and  the 
old  sociology,  a  battle  that  finds  its  central  arena  in  the  modern 


305 


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SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


drama.  It  was  neither  the  lure  of  misjudged  leaders  nor  the  ro¬ 
mance  of  colonial  history  that  drew  him  to  the  Old  Southwest;  it 
was  the  drama  of  evolution,  “the  thin  and  jagged  line  of  the  frontier,” 
that  seemed  to  him  to  epitomize  in  concrete  form  the  evolving  genius 
of  a  democratic  people  to  whom  what  has  been  is  only  the  matrix 
of  what  is  to  be.  It  was  not  because  Southern  literature  was  South¬ 
ern  that  he  entered  the  lists  as  one  of  its  historians;  it  was  because 
he  saw  in  Southern  literature  as  in  Southern  life  a  movement  forward 
to  wider  fields  and  ampler  horizons.  Dr.  Henderson  is  preeminently 
and  distinctively  the  foe  of  the  static,  the  interpreter  of  the  changing, 
the  herald  of  the  frontier,  the  tracer  and  poursuivant  of  the  skyline. 

Archibald  Henderson,  head  of  the  department  of  mathematics  in 
the  University  of  his  native  State,  was  born  in  Salisbury,  North  Car¬ 
olina,  on  June  17,  1877.  He  took  his  A.B.,  A.M.,  and  Ph.D.,  at  the 
University  of  North  Carolina  and  in  1915  received  a  second  Ph.D. 
from  the  University  of  Chicago,  mathematics  being  his  major  sub¬ 
ject.  He  holds  also  a  D.C.L.  from  the  University  of  the  South,  at 
Sewanee,  Tennessee,  and  an  LL.D.  from  Tulane. 

His  marriage  in  1903  to  Minna  Curtis  Bynum  marked  the  union 
of  two  families  long  distinguished  for  legal  attainments  in  North 
Carolina  and  the  blending  of  two  lives  that  have  ministered  each  to 
each  in  all  high  inspirations  of  mind  and  character.  It  may  have 
been  an  accidental  coincidence  but  shortly  before  his  marriage  he  pub¬ 
lished  a  brilliant  paper  in  The  American  Mathematical  Monthly  en¬ 
titled  “Harmonic  Pairs  in  the  Complex  Plan.”  His  marriage  at  any 
rate  signalized  the  covenanting  of  one  such  pair.  In  words  not  un¬ 
worthy  of  Browning  he  thus  dedicates  his  ‘Changing  Drama’ : 

I  lay  this  book  upon  her  shrine 

Whose  lifted  torch  has  lighted  mine. 

Sweet  Heart — great  Heart  of  tenderness: 

Strong  Hands  to  help — dear  Hands  to  bless: 

Clear  Brain  whose  vision  dwells  in  light: 

Fire  Spirit,  winged  flame  of  white: 

Oh!  Soul — true  Sword  Excalibur: 

Body — fit  sheath  for  soul  of  her! 

I  lay  this  book  upon  hear  shrine — 

Her  s — since  herself  has  made  it  mine. 

The  year  1910-1911  he  spent  abroad,  putting  in  part  of  his  time 
at  the  University  of  Cambridge,  part  at  the  University  of  Berlin,  and 
part  at  the  Sorbonne.  This  was  a  year  of  splendidly  maturing  power 
and  as  I  crossed  his  trail  several  times  in  Germany  it  seemed  to  me 
that  I  could  note  at  each  meeting  a  growth  and  widening  of  outlook, 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


307 


a  broadening  range  of  interest,  and  an  intensity  of  intellectual  pur¬ 
suit  that  was  not  so  much  a  surprise  as  a  constant  invigoration.  Hol¬ 
brook  Jackson  said  of  him  during  this  year,  in  Black  and  White ,  Lon¬ 
don:  “You  could  not  by  any  stretch  of  the  imagination  label  Hen¬ 
derson  ‘Tourist.’  But  it  would  be  wrong  to  say  he  was  not  a  sight¬ 
seer,  because  in  a  way  that  is  just  his  game.  He  is  a  sightseer,  but  a 
sightseer  of  a  new  type.  He  is  not  out  primarily  to'  see  the  ruins  of 
dead  ages,  crumbling  buildings,  dim  old  masters’  canvases;  he  is  out 
to  hunt  ideas  and  personalities,  to  track  the  Zeitgeist  to  its  lair.  He 
feels  that  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  remarkable  intellectual  awaken¬ 
ing,  and  he  is  impelled  by  some  urgent  sub-conscious  imp  to  give  his 
complex  and  multiplex  period  a  coherent  voice.” 

The  works  published  during  the  annus  mirabilis  of  1911  sweep 
the  gamut  of  Dr.  Henderson’s  major  interests  with  the  single  excep¬ 
tion  of  his  interest  in  the  westward  trend  of  American  expansion, 
which  he  was  later  to  treat  in  his  study  of  the  Old  Southwest.  In 
every  case,  however,  the  publications  of  19 11  were  the  fruits  of  many 
years  of  study.  They  were  culminations,  not  inaugurations.  Six 
years  before  1911,  for  example,  he  had  published  in  an  issue  of  the 
Elisha  Mitchell  Scientific  Society,  ‘A  Memoir  on  the  Twenty-Seven 
Lines  Upon  the  Cubic  Surface,’  and  the  problem  had  been  con-  . 
stantly  upon  his  mind  ever  since.  His  ‘Interpreters  of  Life’  had 
been  preceded  by  detailed  and  published  studies  of  every  dramatist 
treated.  Mark  Twain’s  writings  had  been  the  companions  of  his 
boyhood  and  articles  about  him  had  already  appeared  from  Dr.  Hen¬ 
derson’s  pen  in  Harpers  Magazine ,  Deutsche  Revue ,  and  The 
North  American  Review.  His  elaborate  interpretation  of  Bernard 
Shaw  was  but  the  expression  of  a  cumulative  interest  that  can  be  traced 
back  to  an  early  presentation  of  ‘You  Never  Can  Tell’  which  Dr. 
Llenderson  had  witnessed  in  Chicago  nine  years  before,  and  after  the 
determination  to  write  Shaw’s  life  had  been  formed  in  1904  hardly  a 
month  had  passed  without  its  quota  of  Shavian  studies.  That  the 
brilliant  French  interpreter  of  William  James  was  no  new  subject 
to’  Dr.  Henderson  can  be  read  between  the  lines  of  “M.  Boutroux 
and  His  Inspiring  Work”  which  appeared  in  The  North  Carolina 
Review  for  December  3,  1911.  Dr.  Henderson’s  intellectual  output 
during  1911  was  remarkable  for  sheer  bulk,  but  still  more  remark¬ 
able  for  unity  and  continuity  of  effort  and  for  the  solid  foundation 
of  original  research  that  underlay  it. 

Among  Dr.  Henderson’s  most  significant  contributions  to  life 
and  letters  must  be  ranked  his  study  of  Mark  Twain.  It  was  the 
first  real  biography  of  Mark  Twain  to  appear  after  the  great  hu¬ 
morist’s  death  and,  in  spite  of  the  multiplied  florescence  and  efflores- 


808 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


cence  of  Mark  Twain  literature  since  then,  it  remains  the  best  in¬ 
terpretation  to  be  found  within  the  compass  of  a  single  volume.  As 
I  write  these  words,  the  latest  issue  of  Englische  Studien  (Leipsic, 
January,  1922)  comes  in  the  morning  mail.  It  contains  an  article 
by  Dr.  Friedrich  Schonemann,  of  Munster,  a  specialist  in  Amer¬ 
ican  literature,  on  “Amerikanische  Mark  Twain  Literatur,  1910 
1920.”  The  list  of  works  collated  is  an  imposing  one,  but  Dr. 
Schonemann  rates  Dr.  Henderson’s  book  as  marking  “the  beginning 
of  the  really  scientific  interest  in  Mark  Twain.”  He  considers  it 
superior  in  breadth  of  interpretation  to  Mr.  Albert  Bigelow  Paine’s 
three-volumed  treatment  and  to  Mr.  Howells’s  more  intimate  but 
less  critical  ‘My  Mark  Twain’  (1910). 

The  study  of  Shaw  has  proved  the  most  educative  influence  ever 
brought  to  bear  upon  Dr.  Henderson.  The  theme  was  a  congenial 
one,  however,  for  it  meant  the  tracing  not  of  one  complicated  move¬ 
ment  but  of  five.  “When  the  history  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century  comes  to  be  written,”  says  Dr.  Henderson  in  chap¬ 
ter  IX  of  ‘George  Bernard  Shaw,’  “it  will  be  seen  that  the  name 
of  Bernard  Shaw  is  inextricably  linked  with  five  epoch-making 
movements  of  our  contemporary  era.  The  Collectivist  movement 
in  politics,  ethics,  and  sociology;  the  Ibsen-Nietzschean  movement  in 
morals;  the  reaction  against  the  materialism  of  Marx  and  Darwin; 
the  Wagnerian  movement  in  music;  and  the  anti-romantic  movement 
in  literature  and  art — these  are  the  main  currents  of  modern  thought 
for  which  Shaw  has  unfalteringly  sought  to  open  a  passage  into 
modern  consciousness.” 

I  am  not  an  admirer  of  Shaw.  On  the  first  page  of  Dr.  Hen¬ 
derson’s  Introduction  the  dramatist  sounds  an  egocentric  note  that,  to 
my  ear  at  least,  echoes  and  re-echoes  to  the  end.  I  cannot  help  ad¬ 
mire  the  man’s  career,  his  overcoming  of  obstacles,  his  amazing  deft¬ 
ness,  his  genius  in  sensing  public  opinion,  his  quickness  in  seeing  an 
opening,  his  easy  command  of  the  resources  of  popular  appeal,  his 
mastery  of  the  entire  gamut  of  expression  except  the  pathetic,  the 
beautiful,  the  heartening,  and  the  noiselessly  suggestive ;  but  in  all 
that  Shaw  says  and  does,  in  even  his  quietest  and  most  confidential 
self-revelations,  I  detect  the  buzz  of  an  undeviating  centripetal  force, 
and  the  center  is  always  George  Bernard  Shaw.  At  every  witty 
sally  of  his  own,  his  laugh  rings  loudest;  at  every  seeming  triumph, 
his  applause  is  the  most  deafening;  at  every  puncture  of  popular  con¬ 
viction  or  long  cherished  idealism,  his  is  the  voice  that  first  an¬ 
nounces  a  permanent  victory  for  enlightenment,  not  omitting  the 
implied  suggestion  that  due  recognition  be  publicly  paid  to  the  vic¬ 
tor.  The  highest  tribute  to  Dr.  Henderson’s  biography  is  that,  to 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


309 


this  reader  at  least,  in  spite  of  the  clamancy  of  Shaw,  there  is  not 
a  dull  page  among  its  more  than  five  hundred.  I  never  open  it  with¬ 
out  renewed  admiration  of  the  courage  that  tackled  so  formidable 
a  task,  the  initial  elan  that  held  the  author  to  it,  and  the  sheer  intel¬ 
lectuality  that  rounded  it  to  its  triumphant  conclusion.  As  long  as 
Shaw  remains  an  object  of  public  interest,  this  book  will  be  indispen¬ 
sable. 

In  ‘Interpreters  of  Life’  and  ‘European  Dramatists,’  Dr. 
Henderson  approaches  the  modern  drama  via  its  creators.  The  unit 
is  the  individual  dramatist.  There  are  chapters  on  August  Strind¬ 
berg,  Henrik  Ibsen,  Maurice  Maeterlinck,  Oscar  Wilde,  Bernard 
Shaw,  Granville  Barker,  and  Arthur  Schnitzler.  These  studies  are 
not  biographical ;  they  are  interpretative,  only  enough  biography  being 
given  to  clarify  and  confirm  the  central  idea  or  ideas  for  which  each 
dramatist  stood.  Of  course  character  is  not  ignored  but  it,  too,  is 
ancillary  to  the  new  conceptions  that  the  dramatist  illustrates  or  the 
old  conceptions  that  he  revitalizes.  Almost  every  chapter  ends  with 
a  condensed  but  illuminating  summary.  Thus  the  last  paragraph  of 
the  chapter  on  Strindberg  begins:  “Strindberg  is  the  supreme  uni- 
versalist  of  our  modern  era”;  that  on  Ibsen:  “Ibsen’s  efforts  at  the 
emancipation  of  modern  society  inevitably  took  the  form  of  life  strug¬ 
gles” ;  that  on  Wilde:  “Wilde  called  one  of  his  plays  ‘The  Import¬ 
ance  of  Being  Earnest.’  In  his  inverted  way  he  aimed  at  teaching 
the  world  the  importance  of  being  frivolous.”  The  concluding 
pages  of  the  chapter  on  Shaw  are  given  in  the  excerpt  that  follows. 
The  last  paragraph  does  not  seem  to  me  in  Dr.  Henderson’s  best 
manner,  the  terminal  comparison  of  Shaw  with  eleven  other  artists 
tending  to  dissipate  rather  than  to  clinch  what  has  gone  before.  Would 
not  the  paragraph  that  precedes  be  a  better  and  more  convergent  ter¬ 
mination  ? 

In  ‘The  Changing  Drama’  the  unit  is  not  the  individual 
dramatist  but  the  drama  itself  as  the  expression  of  a  general  move¬ 
ment  in  human  consciousness.  The  drama  is  here  viewed  as  the 
trysting-place  or  battleground  of  individual  will  and  social  obliga¬ 
tion.  There  are  chapters  on  the  relation  of  the  modern  drama  to 
the  new  age,  to  the  new  ethics,  to  the  new  science,  to  the  new  form, 
to  the  new  freedom,  to  the  new  technic,  to'  the  new  content,  and  to 
the  new  tendencies.  This  is  Dr.  Henderson’s  best  book  in  the  field 
of  dramatic  criticism  because  it  gives  ampler  play  to  his  faculties  of 
p-eneralization  and  wider  scope  to  his  analysis  of  dramatic  effects.  It 
is  based  on  his  previous  studies  of  individual  dramatists,  but  there 


310 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


is  little  repetition  of  analysis  or  opinion.  It  is  a  distillation  rather 
than  a  rearrangement.  The  mere  change  of  angle,  the  substitution 
of  drama  for  dramatist  as  point  de  repere ,  releases  a  host  of  suggest¬ 
ive  comparisons  that  could  hardly  have  found  place  in  the  earlier 
books  without  digression  and  weakening.  The  work  marks  also  a 
distinct  advance  in  Dr.  Henderson’s  thought  about  the  drama.  He 
had  hitherto  almost  ignored  technique.  Only  in  his  study  of  Ibsen 
in  ‘European  Dramatists’  was  there  the  presentation  of  the  technical 
craftsman  as  distinct  from  the  social  philosopher;  and  the  most  in¬ 
teresting  and  informing  part  of  the  essay,  to  me  at  least,  has  always 
been  that  dealing  with  what  Poe  would  have  called  Ibsen’s  “philos¬ 
ophy  of  composition.”  Dr.  Henderson  breaks  new  ground  here  and 
throws  new  light  not  only  on  the  genesis  of  Ibsen’s  dramas  but  on 
the  conjectural  genesis  of  all  literary  types.  ‘The  Changing 
Drama’  continues  the  discussion  of  structural  technique  and  suc¬ 
ceeds  in  relating  form  to  content  and  content  to  form  with  a  clear¬ 
ness  and  convincingness  that  put  the  book  in  a  class  by  itself. 

As  there  is  an  advance  in  directness  of  style  and  economy  of 
words  from  Dr.  Henderson’s  earlier  works  to  his  ‘Changing 
Drama,’  so  there  is  a  corresponding  advance  from  his  ‘Changing 
Drama’  to  his  ‘Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest.’  In  the  latter 
book,  though  there  is  a  mass  of  dates  and  minor  events  through  which 
the  narrative  must  flow,  the  story  is  not  clogged  nor  is  the  style  en¬ 
cumbered.  The  introduction  names  the  four  determining  principles 
of  the  westward  movement  and  the  sequent  pages  keep  close  to  the 
trail  thus  marked  out.  Dr.  Henderson  conceives  the  movement  as 
a  great  American  drama,  the  great  American  drama,  and  tells  it  with 
dramatic  vigor  and  vividness.  The  twenty  pages  of  bibliography  that 
the  author  appends  prove  his  prolonged  study  of  the  period,  and  his 
previous  contributions  to  the  subject  in  The  American  Historical 
Review,  The  North  Carolina  Booklet,  The  Tennessee  Historical 
Magazine,  The  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Review,  and  The 
American  Historical  Magazine  show  that  as  usual  he  was  on  famil¬ 
iar  ground.  The  book,  however,  has  an  added  interest.  The  lead- 
ing  figure  is  Colonel  Richard  Henderson,  grandfather  of  Dr.  Hender¬ 
son’s  grandfather.  Colonel  Roosevelt  in  his  ‘Winning  of  the  West’ 
had  said:  “Richard  Henderson  had  great  confidence  in  Boone;  and 
it  was  his  backing  which  enabled  the  latter  to  turn  his  discoveries 
to  such  good  account.  .  .  .  He  was  a  man  of  the  seacoast  regions, 
who  had  little  in  common  with  the  backwoodsmen  by  whom  he  was 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


311 


surrounded;  he  came  from  a  comparatively  old  and  sober  commu¬ 
nity,  and  he  could  not  grapple  with  his  new  associates.” 

This,  though  a  tribute  to  Colonel  Henderson’s  social  culture,  is 
plainly  an  underestimate  of  his  leadership.  Note  the  following  ex¬ 
tract  from  a  letter  written  early  in  April,  1775,  by  Daniel  Boone  to 
Colonel  Henderson  at  a  crisis  in  the  southwestern  movement  and  a 
turning  point  in  American  history:  “On  March  the  25  a  party  of 
Indians  fired  on  my  Company  about  half  an  hour  before  day,  and 
killed  Mr.  Twitty  and  his  negro,  and  wounded  Mr.  Walker  very 
deeply,  but  I  hope  he  will  recover. 

“On  March  the  28  as  we  were  hunting  for  provisions,  we  found 
Samuel  Tate’s  son,  who  gave  us  an  account  that  the  Indians  fired 
on  their  camp  on  the  27th  day.  My  brother  and  I  went  down  and 
found  two  men  killed  and  sculped,  Thomas  McDowell  and  Jere¬ 
miah  McFeters.  I  have  sent  a  man  down  to  all  the  lower  compa¬ 
nies  in  order  to  gather  them  all  at  the  mouth  of  Otter  Creek. 

“My  advice  to  you,  Sir,  is  to  come  or  send  as  soon  as  possible. 
Your  company  is  desired  greatly,  for  the  people  are  very  uneasy,  but 
are  willing  to'  stay  and  venture  their  lives  with  you,  and  now  is  the 
time  to  flusterate  their  [the  Indians’]  intentions,  and  keep  the  coun¬ 
try,  whilst  we  are  in  it.  If  we  give  way  to  them  now,  it  will  ever 
be  the  case.” 

Colonel  Henderson  both  sent  and  went,  and  among  those  who 
joined  him  was,  strangely  enough,  Abraham  Hanks,  the  maternal 
grandfather  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  Indian  danger  was  averted, 
Kentucky  was  held,  Colonel  Henderson’s  leadership  was  vindicated, 
and  the  imperial  southwestern  domain  came  permanently  into  Amer¬ 
ican  history. 

Like  his  distinguished  ancestor,  Dr.  Henderson  is  a  frontiersman. 
His  frontiers,  however,  are  not  territorial  but  intellectual.  He  is 
also  an  ardent  Southerner  and  validates  his  Southernism  by  being 
national  in  his  sympathies,  international  in  his  interests,  and  Amer¬ 
ican  to  the  core.  “In  the  ranks  of  the  younger  generation  of  au¬ 
thors,”  wrote  Edwin  Markham  four  years  ago,  “I  see  against  the 
American  background  of  the  present  day  no  more  striking  figure  of 
international  culture  and  literary  attainment  than  Archibald  Hen¬ 
derson,  educator,  orator,  litterateur,  and  historian.”  To  this  ap¬ 
praisal  I  should  like  to  add  the  prophecy  of  a  former  editor-in-chief  of 
The  Library  of  Southern  Literature:  “The  ideal  Southern 
writer  must  be  Southern  and  cosmopolitan  as  well;  he  must  be  in¬ 
tensely  local  in  feeling,  but  utterly  unprejudiced  and  unpartisan  as 


312 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


to  opinions,  traditions,  and  sentiment.  Whenever  we  have  a  genuine 
Southern  literature  it  will  be  American  and  cosmopolitan  as  well. 
Only  let  it  be  a  work  of  genius,  and  it  will  take  all  sections  bv  storm.” 
Archibald  Henderson  merits  the  tribute  of  Edwin  Markham  because 
he  is  fulfilling  the  forecast  of  Joel  Chandler  Harris. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  Twenty-Seven  Lines  Upon  the  Cubic  Surface.  Cambridge  Uni¬ 
versity  Press,  England,  1911.  Reprinted  by  the  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1915. 

Interpreters  of  Life,  and  the  Modern  Spirit.  Duckworth  and  Com¬ 
pany,  London,  1911.  Mitchell  Kennerley,  New  York,  1911. 
Mark  Twain.  Duckworth  and  Company,  London,  19 11.  Freder¬ 
ick  A.  Stokes  Company,  New  York,  19 n. 

George  Bernard  Shaw,  His  Life  and  Works.  Hutchinson  and 
Company,  London,  1911.  Stewart  and  Kidd  Company,  Cin¬ 
cinnati,  1 9 1 1 .  Boni  and  Liveright,  Inc.,  New  York,  1918. 
William  James.  Translation  from  the  French  of  Emile  Boutroux 
by  Barbara  and  Archibald  Henderson.  Longmans,  Green  and 
Company,  New  York,  19 11. 

European  Dramatists.  Stewart  and  Kidd  Company,  Cincinnati, 

1913.  Grant  Richards,  London,  1913.  Enlarged  edition, 
1918. 

The  Changing  Drama.  Henry  Holt  and  Company,  New  York, 

1914.  Grant  Richards,  London,  1914.  Stewart  and  Kidd 
Company,  Cincinnati,  1919  (with  new  introduction). 

The  Prince  of  Parthia.  By  Thomas  Godfrey.  With  Critical,  Bio¬ 
graphical,  and  Historical  Introduction.  By  Archibald  Hender¬ 
son.  Little,  Brown  and  Company,  Boston,  1917. 

The  Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest.  The  Romantic  Story  of  the 
Early  Pioneers  into  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  Tennessee,  and 
Kentucky,  1 740-1 790.  The  Century  Company,  New  York, 
1920. 

Among  Dr.  Henderson’s  more  notable  studies  in  Southern  Lit¬ 
erature  may  be  mentioned: 

Literature  in  the  South,  Charlotte  Observer,  Charlotte,  North  Caro¬ 
lina,  March  27,  1904. 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


313 


John  Charles  McNeill,  Charlotte  Observer,  November  2,  1907. 
Wake  Forest  Student,  Wake  Forest,  North  Carolina,  Decem¬ 
ber,  1907. 

Mrs.  Frances  C.  Tiernan  (“Christian  Reid”),  Charlotte  Observer, 
June  1,  1909.  Library  of  Southern  Literature,  volume 
XII,  1  910.  The  New  Carolina  Magazine,  Chapel  Hill,  June, 
1921. 

Margaret  Busbee  Shipp.  Sky-Land,  Winston-Salem,  North  Caro¬ 
lina,  September,  1914.  News  and  Observer,  Raleigh,  Septem¬ 
ber  13,  1914. 

The  American  Nights  Entertainment:  O.  Henry,  North  Carolina 
Review,  Raleigh,  October  8,  1911. 

A  Proposed  Memorial  to  O.  Henry.  North  Carolina  Review,  March 
2,  1913.  Sky-Land,  August,  1913. 

O.  Henry.  Memorial  Essay.  Published  as  a  souvenir  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  unveiling  of  the  tablet  to  O.  Henry  at  Raleigh, 
December,  1914,  funds  for  which  were  raised  by  Dr.  Hender¬ 
son.  Mutual  Publishing  Company,  Raleigh,  1914. 

O.  Henry  and  North  Carolina.  The  Nation,  New  York,  January 
14,  1915. 

O.  Henry:  His  Life  and  Art.  Alumnae  News.  State  Normal 
and  Industrial  College,  Greensboro,  North  Carolina,  April  and 
June,  1916. 

O.  Henry:  A  Contemporary  Classic.  The  Dial,  Chicago,  De¬ 
cember  28,  1916. 

O.  Henry  ana.  The  Yale  Review,  April,  1917. 

O.  Henry  After  a  Decade.  The  Southern  Review,  Asheville, 
North  Carolina,  May,  1920. 

O.  Henry:  Artist  and  Fun-Maker.  The  New  Carolina  Maga¬ 
zine,  November,  1920. 

Appraisals  of  Dr.  Henderson  may  he  found  in: 

Black  and  White,  London,  April  22,  1911.  By  Holbrook  Jackson 
in  his  Weekly  Causerie. 

The  Charlotte  Observer,  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  November  30, 
1913.  By  Miss  Emilie  W.  McVea. 

Sky-Land,  Winston-Salem,  North  Carolina,  January,  1915.  By 
Maurice  Garland  Fulton. 

The  Sewanee  Review,  Sewanee,  Tennessee,  October,  1918.  By  Ed¬ 
win  Markham. 


314 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


BERNARD  SHAW. 

From  ‘European  Dramatists.’  Copyright,  Stewart  Kidd  Company,  and  used  here  by 

permission  of  author  and  publishers. 

Bernard  Shaw  is  the  most  versatile  and  cosmopolitan 
genius  in  the  drama  of  ideas  that  Great  Britain  has  yet 
produced.  No  juster  or  more  significant  characterization 
can  be  made  of  this  man  than  that  he  is  a  penetrating  and 
astute  critic  of  contemporary  civilization.  He  is  typical  of 
this  disquieting  century — with  its  intellectual  brillancy,  its 
staggering  naivete,  its  ironic  nonsense,  its  devouring  scep¬ 
ticism,  its  profound  social  and  religious  unrest.  The  re¬ 
lentless  thinking,  the  large  perception  of  the  comic  which 
stamp  this  man,  are  interpenetrated  with  the  ironic  con¬ 
sciousness  of  the  twentieth  century.  The  note  of  his  art  is 
capitally  moralistic;  and  he  tempers  the  bitterness  of  the  dis¬ 
illusioning  dose  with  the  effervescent  appetizer  of  his  bril¬ 
liant  wit.  His  philosophy  is  the  consistent  integration  of  his 
empirical  criticisms  of  modern  society  and  its  present  or¬ 
ganization,  founded  on  authority  and  based  upon  capitalism. 
A  true  mystic,  he  sees  in  life,  not  the  fulfilment  of  moral 
laws,  or  the  verification  of  the  deductions  of  reason,  but  the 
satisfaction  of  a  passion  in  us  of  which  we  can  give  no  ac¬ 
count. 

Evolution,  in  Shaw’s  view,  is  not  a  materialistic,  but  a 
mystical  theory;  and,  after  Lamarck  and  Samuel  Butler,  he 
understands  evolution,  not  as  the  senseless  raging  of  blind 
mechanical  forces  with  an  amazing  simulation  of  design,  but 
as  the  struggle  of  a  creative  Will  or  Purpose,  which  he  calls 
the  Life  Force,  towards  higher  forms  of  life.  Socialism  is 
the  alpha  and  omega  of  his  life.  He  believes  in  will,  en¬ 
gineered  by  reason,  because  he  sees  in  it  the  only  real  in¬ 
strument  for  the  achievement  of  Socialism.  Like  all 
pioneers  in  search  of  an  El  Dorado,  he  has  found  something 
quite  different  from  the  original  object  in  mind.  Indeed,  in 
his  search  for  freedom  of  will,  he  has  really  succeeded  in  dis¬ 
covering  three  checks  and  limitations  to  its  operation;  and  he 
has  long  since  abandoned  the  paradox  of  free  will.  For  he 
has  discovered,  as  first  limitation,  the  iron  law  of  personal 
responsibility  to  be  the  alternative  to  the  golden  rule  of  per- 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


315 


sonal  conduct.  Second,  the  desirability  of  the  sacrifice  of 
the  individual  will  to  the  realization  of  the  general  good  of 
society  through  the  progressive  evolution  of  the  race.  And 
third,  the  personal,  temperamental  restriction  which  forbids 
him  to  accept  anything  as  true,  to  take  any  action,  to  allow 
any  free  play  to  his  will  which  would  seriously  militate 
against  the  progressive  advance  of  collectivism.  He  has 
achieved  the  remarkable  distinction  of  embracing  collectiv¬ 
ism  without  sacrificing  individualism,  of  preaching  intel¬ 
lectual  anarchy  without  ignoring  the  claims  of  the  Collective 
Ego. 

In  Bernard  Shaw  rages  the  daemonic,  half-insensate 
intuition  of  a  Blake,  with  his  seer’s  faculty  for  inverted 
truism;  while  the  close,  detective  cleverness  of  his  ironic 
paradoxes  demonstrates  him  to  be  a  Becque  upon  whom  has 
fallen  the  mantle  of  a  Gilbert.  In  the  limning  of  charac¬ 
ter,  the  mordantly  revelative  strokes  of  a  Hogarth  prove 
him  to  be  a  realist  of  satiric  portraiture.  The  enticingly 
audacious  insouciance  of  a  Wilde,  with  his  nonchalant  wit 
and  easy  epigram,  is  united  with  the  exquisite  effrontery  of  a 
Whistler,  with  his  devastating  jeux  d’ esprit  and  the  ridentem 
dicer e  verum.  If  Shaw  is  a  Celtic  M oiler e  de  nos  jours ,  it 
is  a  Moliere  in  whom  comedy  stems  from  the  individual  and 
tragedy  from  society.  If  Shaw  is  the  Irish  Ibsen,  it  is  a 
laughing  Ibsen — looking  out  upon  a  half-mad  world  with 
the  riant  eyes  of  a  Heine,  a  Chamfort,  or  a  Sheridan. 


WHAT  IS  A  PLAY? 


From  ‘The  Changing  Drama.’  Copyright,  Stewart  Kidd  Company,  and  used  here 

by  permission  of  author  and  publishers. 

In  the  light  of  the  contributions  of  the  experimental  and 
pioneering  dramatists  of  the  contemporary  era,  I  shall  make 
an  effort  to  formulate  a  working  definition  of  a  play.  It  is 
important  to  note  that  our  vocabulary  of  dramatic  criticism 
is  deficient  in  the  requisite  terms  for  including  all  the  species 
of  plays  which  find  a  place  on  the  boards.  We  have  no  exact 
analogue,  pithy  and  concise,  for  the  German  term  Schau- 
spiel .  The  bourgeois  drama  is  only  imperfectly  rendered  by 


316 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


domestic  drama;  an  even  less  desirable  term  is  the  drama  of 
middle-class  life.  The  very  thing  we  are  discussing  has  it¬ 
self  become  suspect.  A  drama  is,  from  its  very  derivation, 
a  branch,  not  of  statics,  but  of  kinetics.  It  really  means  a 
doing,  an  action  of  some  sort,  through  the  intermediary  of 
human  beings.  Yet  we  are  confronted  to-day  with  a  star¬ 
tling  contradiction  in  terms;  for,  as  we  have  shown,  many 
contemporary  dramatists  produce  theater-pieces  which  are 
successfully  produced  before  popular  audiences,  in  which  the 
tone  is  contemplative  and  not  active.  In  such  plays  the 
stress  is  thrown  upon  being  to  the  virtual  exclusion  of  doing. 
We  are  driven,  finally,  to  a  definition,  not  of  the  drama,  but 
of  the  play. 

A  play  is  any  presentation  of  human  life  by  human  in¬ 
terpreters  on  a  stage  in  a  theater  before  a  representative 
audience.  The  play  intrinsically,  and  its  representation  by 
the  interpreters,  must  be  so  effective,  interesting,  and  mov¬ 
ing  as  to  induce  the  normal  individual  in  appreciable  numbers 
to  make  a  sacrifice  of  money  and  time,  either  one  or  both, 
for  the  privilege  of  witnessing  its  performance.  The  sub¬ 
ject  of  a  play  may  be  chosen  from  life  on  the  normal  plane 
of  human  experience  or  the  higher  plane  of  fantasy  and 
imagination.  Both  the  action  and  the  characters  of  the 
play  may  be  dynamic,  static,  or  passive.  By  action  is 
designated  every  exhibition  of  revelative  mobility  in  the 
characters  themselves,  whether  corporeal  or  spiritual,  rele¬ 
vant  to  the  processes  of  elucidation  and  exposition  of  the 
play;  as  well  as  all  events,  explicit  or  implicit,  in  the  outer 
world  of  deed  or  the  inner  life  of  thought,  present  or  an¬ 
tecedent,  which  directly  affect  the  destinies  of  the  characters, 
immediately  or  ultimately.  The  characters  may  be  evolu¬ 
tional,  static,  or  mechanical — ranging  from  the  higher  forms 
of  tragedy,  comedy,  tragi-comedy  through  all  forms  of  the 
play  down  to  the  lower  species  of  melodrama,  farce,  and 
pantomime. 

A  common,  but  not  an  indispensable,  attribute  of  the  play 
is  a  crisis  in  events,  material,  intellectual  or  emotional,  or  a 
culminating  succession  of  such  crises;  and  such  crisis  gen¬ 
erally,  but  by  no  means  invariably,  arises  out  of  a  conflict 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


317 


involving  the  exercise  of  the  human  will  in  pursuit  of  desid¬ 
erated  ends.  A  play  may  be  lacking  in  the  elements  of  con¬ 
flict  and  crisis,  either  or  both;  since  the  pictorial  and  plastic, 
in  an  era  of  the  picture-frame  stage  in  especial,  are  them¬ 
selves  legitimate  and  indispensable  instrumentalities  of  stage 
representation.  A  play  cannot  be  purely  static,  cannot  whol¬ 
ly  eliminate  action.  Physical,  corporeal  action  may  never¬ 
theless  be  reduced  to  its  lowest  terms;  and  in  such  plays  the 
action  consists  in  the  play  of  the  intellect  and  of  the  emo¬ 
tions.  All  dramas  are  plays;  all  plays  are  not  dramas.  The 
drama  may  be  defined  as  the  play  in  which  there  is  a  distinc¬ 
tive  plot,  involving  incidents  actively  participated  in  by  the 
characters;  a  plot  must  be  of  such  a  nature  that  it  can  be 
clearly  disengaged  and  succinctly  narrated  as  a  story.  A 
drama  involves  the  functioning  of  the  human  will,  whether 
in  the  individual  or  in  the  mass;  and  includes  within  itself  a 
crisis  in  the  affairs  of  human  beings.  Dramatic  is  a  term 
descriptive  of  the  qualities  inherent  in,  indispensable  to,  the 
drama.  A  play  may  or  may  not  be  dramatic.  A  drama  is  a 
particular  kind  of  play. 

The  characteristic  features  of  the  contemporary  play, 
as  the  result  of  the  revolution  of  technic,  may  now  be  de¬ 
tailed.  They  are,  concretely,  the  transposition  of  the  crucial 
conjuncture  from  the  outer  world  to  the  inner  life;  the  en¬ 
largement  of  the  conception  of  the  dramatic  conflict  in  order 
to  include  the  clash  of  differing  conceptions  of  conduct, 
standards  of  morality,  codes  of  ethics,  philosophies  of  life; 
the  participation  in  such  conflicts  not  only  of  individuals,  but 
also  of  type  embodiments  of  social  classes  or  even  segments 
of  the  social  classes  themselves;  the  elimination  of  both  con¬ 
flict  and  crisis  without  denaturalization  of  the  literary 
species  known  as  the  play;  the  invention  of  the  technic  by 
which  a  single  subject  is  explored  from  many  points  of  view, 
as  distinguished  from  the  earlier  technic  in  which  many  sub¬ 
jects  are  exhibited  from  a  single  point  of  view.  Most  pro¬ 
found  and  far-reaching  of  all  changes  has  been  the  change 
wrought  by  the  revolutionary  spirit  in  morals,  ethics,  and 
social  philosophy.  The  social  has  been  added  to  the  in¬ 
dividual  outlook;  the  temporal  has  been  surcharged  with  the 


318 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


spirit  of  the  eternal.  The  contemporary  playwright  devotes 
his  highest  effort  to  the  salutary,  if  not  wholly  grateful  task, 
of  freeing  mankind  from  the  illusions  which  obsess  and  mis¬ 
lead.  Until  the  scales  fall  from  his  eyes,  the  modern  man 
cannot  stand  high  and  free,  cannot  fight  the  great  fight 
against  physical,  social,  institutional,  and  moral  determin¬ 
ism.  The  drama  of  the  modern  era  is  essentially  the  drama 
of  disillusion. 


INTRODUCTION. 

To  ‘The  Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest/  Copyright,  The  Century  Company,  and 
used  here  by  permission  of  author  and  publishers. 

The  romantic  and  thrilling  story  of  the  southward  and 
westward  migration  of  successive  waves  of  transplanted 
European  peoples  throughout  the  entire  course  of  the  eight¬ 
eenth  century  is  the  history  of  the  growth  and  evolution  of 
American  democracy.  Upon  the  American  continent  was 
wrought  out,  through  almost  superhuman  daring,  incredible 
hardship,  and  surpassing  endurance,  the  formation  of  a  new 
society.  The  European  rudely  confronted  with  the  pitiless 
conditions  of  the  wilderness  soon  discovered  that  his  main¬ 
tenance,  indeed  his  existence,  was  conditioned  upon  his  in¬ 
dividual  efficiency  and  his  resourcefulness  in  adapting  him¬ 
self  to  his  environment.  The  very  history  of  the  human 
race,  from  the  age  of  primitive  man  to  the  modern  era  of 
enlightened  civilization,  is  traversed  in  the  Old  Southwest 
throughout  the  course  of  half  a  century. 

A  series  of  dissolving  views  thrown  upon  the  screen, 
picturing  the  successive  episodes  in  the  history  of  a  single 
family  as  it  wended  its  way  southward  along  the  eastern  val¬ 
leys,  resolutely  repulsed  the  sudden  attack  of  the  Indians, 
toiled  painfully  up  the  granite  slopes  of  the  Appalachians, 
and  pitched  down  into  the  transmontane  wilderness  upon  the 
western  waters,  would  give  to  the  spectator  a  vivid  concep¬ 
tion,  in  miniature,  of  the  westward  movement.  But  certain 
basic  elements  in  the  grand  procession,  revealed  to  the 
sociologist  and  the  economist,  would  perhaps  escape  his  scru¬ 
tiny.  Back  of  the  individual,  back  of  the  family,  even,  lurk 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


319 


the  creative  and  formative  impulses  of  colonization,  expan¬ 
sion,  and  government.  In  the  recognition  of  these  social  and 
economic  tendencies  the  individual  merges  into  the  group; 
the  group  into  the  community;  the  community  into  a  new 
society.  In  this  clear  perspective  of  historic  development 
the  spectacular  hero  at  first  sight  seems  to  diminish;  but  the 
mass,  the  movement,  the  social  force  which  he  epitomizes 
and  interprets,  gain  in  impressiveness  and  dignity. 

As  the  irresistible  tide  of  migratory  peoples  swept  ever 
southward  and  westward,  seeking  room  for  expansion  and 
economic  independence,  a  series  of  frontiers  was  gradually 
thrust  out  toward  the  wilderness  in  successive  waves  of  ir¬ 
regular  indentation.  The  true  leader  in  this  westward  ad¬ 
vance,  to  whom  less  than  his  deserts  has  been  accorded  by 
the  historian,  is  the  drab  and  mercenary  trader  with  the  In¬ 
dians.  The  story  of  his  enterprise  and  of  his  adventures  be¬ 
gins  with  the  planting  of  European  civilization  upon  Ameri¬ 
can  soil.  In  the  mind  of  the  aborigines  he  created  the  pas¬ 
sion  for  the  fruits,  both  good  and  evil,  of  the  white  man’s 
civilization,  and  he  was  welcomed  by  the  Indian  because  he 
also  brought  the  means  for  repelling  the  further  advance  of 
that  civilization.  The  trader  was  of  incalculable  service  to 
the  pioneer  in  first  spying  out  the  land  and  charting  the  track¬ 
less  wilderness.  The  trail  rudely  marked  by  the  buffalo  be¬ 
came  in  time  the  Indian  path  and  the  trader’s  “trace”;  and 
the  pioneers  upon  the  westward  march,  following  the  line  of 
least  resistance,  cut  out  their  roads  along  these  very  routes. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  trader 
— brave,  hardy,  and  adventurous  however  often  crafty,  un¬ 
scrupulous,  and  immoral — ,  the  expansionist  movement  upon 
the  American  continent  would  have  been  greatly  retarded. 

So  scattered  and  ramified  were  the  enterprises  and  ex¬ 
peditions  of  the  traders  with  the  Indians  that  the  frontier 
which  they  established  was  at  best  both  shifting  and  un¬ 
stable.  Following  far  in  the  wake  of  these  advance  agents 
of  the  civilization  which  they  so  often  disgraced,  came  the 
cattle-herder  or  rancher,  who  took  advantage  of  the  exten¬ 
sive  pastures  and  ranges  along  the  uplands  and  foot-hills  to 
raise  immense  herds  of  cattle.  Thus  was  formed  what 


320 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


might  be  called  a  rancher’s  frontier,  thrust  out  in  advance 
of  the  ordinary  farming  settlements  and  serving  as  the  first 
serious  barrier  against  the  Indian  invasion.  The  westward 
movement  of  population  is  in  this  respect  a  direct  advance 
from  the  coast.  Years  before  the  influx  into  the  Old  South¬ 
west  of  the  tides  of  settlement  from  the  northeast,  the  more 
adventurous  struck  straight  westward  in  the  wake  of  the  fur- 
trader,  and  here  and  there  erected  the  cattle-ranges  beyond 
the  farming  frontier  of  the  piedmont  region.  The  wild 
horses  and  cattle  which  roamed  at  will  through  the  upland 
barrens  and  pea-vine  pastures  were  herded  in  and  driven 
for  sale  to  the  city  markets  of  the  East. 

The  farming  frontier  of  the  piedmont  plateau  con¬ 
stituted  the  real  backbone  of  western  settlement.  The  pion¬ 
eering  farmers,  with  the  adventurous  instincts  of  the  hunter 
and  the  explorer,  plunged  deeper  and  ever  deeper  into  the 
wilderness,  lured  on  by  the  prospect  of  free  and  still  richer 
lands  in  the  dim  interior.  Settlements  quickly  sprang  up  in 
the  neighborhood  of  military  posts  or  rude  forts  established 
to  serve  as  safeguards  against  hostile  attack;  and  trade  soon 
flourished  between  these  settlements  and  the  eastern  cen¬ 
ters,  following  the  trails  of  the  trader  and  the  more  beaten 
paths  of  emigration.  The  bolder  settlers  who  ventured 
farthest  to  the  westward  were  held  in  communication  with 
the  East  through  their  dependence  upon  salt  and  other  neces¬ 
sities  of  life;  and  the  search  for  salt-springs  in  the  virgin 
wilderness  was  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the  desire  of 
the  pioneer  to  shake  off  his  dependence  upon  the  coast. 

The  prime  determinative  principle  of  the  progressive 
American  civilization  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  the  pas¬ 
sion  for  the  acquisition  of  land.  The  struggle  for  economic 
independence  developed  the  germ  of  American  liberty  and 
became  the  differentiating  principle  of  American  character. 
Here  was  a  vast  unappropriated  region  in  the  interior  of 
the  continent  to  be  had  for  the  seeking,  which  served  as  lure 
and  inspiration  to  the  man  daring  enough  to  risk  his  all  in 
its  acquisition.  It  was  in  accordance  with  human  nature  and 

JL 

the  principles  of  political  economy  that  this  unknown  extent 
of  uninhabited  transmontane  land,  widely  renowned  for 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


321 


beauty,  richness,  and  fertility,  should  excite  grandiose  dreams 
in  the  minds  of  English  and  Colonials  alike.  England  was 
said  to  be  Aew  Land  mad  and  everybody  there  has  his  eye 
fixed  on  this  country.”  Groups  of  wealthy  or  well-to-do 
individuals  organized  themselves  into  land  companies  for  the 
colonization  and  exploitation  of  the  West.  The  pioneer 
promoter  was  a  powerful  creative  force  in  westward  expan¬ 
sion;  and  the  activities  of  the  early  land  companies  were 
decisive  factors  in  the  colonization  of  the  wilderness.  Wheth¬ 
er  acting  under  the  authority  of  a  crown  grant  or  proceed¬ 
ing  on  their  own  authority,  the  land  companies  tended  to 
give  stability  and  permanence  to  settlements  otherwise 
hazardous  and  insecure. 

The  second  determinative  impulse  of  the  pioneer  civil¬ 
ization  was  wanderlust — the  passionately  inquisitive  instinct 
of  the  hunter,  the  traveler,  and  the  explorer.  This  restless 
class  of  nomadic  wanderers  was  responsible  in  part  for  the 
royal  proclamation  of  1763,  a  secondary  object  of  which,  ac¬ 
cording  to  Edmund  Burke,  was  the  limitation  of  the  colonies 
on  the  West,  as  “the  charters  of  many  of  our  old  colonies 
give  them,  with  few  exceptions,  no  bounds  to  the  westward 
but  the  South  Sea.”  The  Long  Hunters,  taking  their  lives 
in  their  hands,  fared  boldly  forth  to  a  fabled  hunter’s 
paradise  in  the  far-away  wilderness,  because  they  were  driven 
by  the  irresistible  desire  of  a  Ponce  de  Leon  or  a  DeSoto 
to  find  out  the  truth  about  the  unknown  lands  beyond. 

But  the  hunter  was  not  only  thrilled  with  the  passion  of 
the  chase  and  of  discovery;  he  was  intent  also  upon  collect¬ 
ing  the  furs  and  skins  of  wild  animals  for  lucrative  barter 
and  sale  in  the  centers  of  trade.  He  was  quick  to  make 
“tomahawk  claims”  and  to  assert  “corn  rights”  as  he  spied 
out  the  rich  virgin  land  for  future  location  and  cultivation. 
Free  land  and  no  taxes  appealed  to  the  backwoodsman,  tired 
of  paying  quit-rents  to  the  agents  of  wealthy  lords  across 
the  sea.  Thus  the  settler  speedily  followed  in  the  hunter’s 
wake.  In  his  wake  also  went  many  rude  and  lawless  charac¬ 
ters  of  the  border,  horse  thieves  and  criminals  of  different 
sorts,  who  sought  to  hide  their  delinquencies  in  the  merciful 
liberality  of  the  wilderness.  For  the  most  part,  however, 


322 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


it  was  the  salutary  instinct  of  the  homebuilder — the  man 
with  the  ax,  who  made  a  little  clearing  in  the  forest  and  built 
there  a  rude  cabin  that  he  bravely  defended  at  all  risks 
against  continued  assaults — which,  in  defiance  of  every  re¬ 
straint,  irresistibly  thrust  westward  the  thin  and  jagged  line 
of  the  frontier.  The  ax  and  the  surveyor’s  chain,  along 
with  the  rifle  and  the  hunting-knife,  constituted  the  armorial 
bearings  of  the  pioneer.  With  individual  as  with  corpora¬ 
tion,  with  explorer  as  with  landlord,  land-hunger  was  the 
master  impulse  of  the  era. 

The  various  desires  which  stimulated  and  promoted 
westward  expansion  were,  to  be  sure,  often  found  in  com¬ 
plete  conjunction.  The  trader  sought  to  exploit  the  Indian 
for  his  own  advantage,  selling  him  whiskey,  trinkets,  and 
firearms  in  return  for  rich  furs  and  costly  peltries;  yet  he 
was  often  a  hunter  himself  and  collected  great  stores  of 
peltries  as  the  result  of  his  solitary  and  protracted  hunting- 
expeditions.  The  rancher  and  the  herder  sought  to  exploit 
the  natural  vegetation  of  marsh  and  upland,  the  cane-brakes 
and  pea-vines;  yet  the  constantly  recurring  need  for  fresh 
pasturage  made  him  a  pioneer  also,  drove  him  ever  nearer 
to  the  mountains,  and  furnished  the  economic  motive  for  his 
westward  advance.  The  small  farmer  needed  the  virgin 
soil  of  the  new  region,  the  alluvial  river-bottoms,  and  the 
open  prairies,  for  the  cultivation  of  his  crops  and  the  graz¬ 
ing  of  his  cattle;  yet  in  the  intervals  between  the  tasks  of 
farm  life  he  scoured  the  wilderness  in  search  of  game  and 
spied  out  new  lands  for  future  settlement. 

This  restless  and  nomadic  race,  says  the  keenly  obser¬ 
vant  Francis  Baily,  “delight  much  to  live  on  the  frontiers, 
where  they  can  enjoy  undisturbed,  and  free  from  the  con¬ 
trol  of  any  laws,  the  blessings  which  nature  has  bestowed 
upon  them.”  Independence  of  spirit,  impatience  of  restraint, 
the  inquisitive  nature,  and  the  nomadic  temperament — these 
are  the  strains  in  the  American  character  of  the  eighteenth 
century  which  ultimately  blended  to  create  a  typical  democ¬ 
racy.  The  rolling  of  wave  after  wave  of  settlement  west¬ 
ward  across  the  American  continent,  with  a  reversion  to 
primitive  conditions  along  the  line  of  the  farthest  frontier, 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


323 


and  a  marked  rise  'in  the  scale  of  civilization  at  each  suc¬ 
cessive  stage  of  settlement,  from  the  western  limit  to  the 
eastern  coast,  exemplifies  from  one  aspect  the  history  of  the 
American  people  during  two  centuries.  This  era,  constitut¬ 
ing  the  first  stage  in  our  national  existence,  and  productive 
of  a  buoyant  national  character  shaped  in  democracy  upon  a 
free  soil,  closed  only  yesterday  with  the  exhaustion  of  cul¬ 
tivable  free  land,  the  disappearance  of  the  last  frontier,  and 
the  recent  death  of  “Buffalo  Bill.”  The  splendid  inaugura¬ 
tion  of  the  period,  in  the  region  of  the  Carolinas,  Virginia, 
Tennessee,  and  Kentucky,  during  the  second  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  is  the  theme  of  this  story  of  the  pioneers 
of  the  Old  Southwest, 


COMPLETE  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I. 

Books. 

1911.  Interpreters  of  Life,  and  the  Modern  Spirit.  Duckworth 
&  Co.  (London).  Mitchell  Kennerley  (New  York). 
Mark  Tzvain.  Duckworth  &  Co.  (London).  Frederick  A. 
Stokes  (New  York). 

George  Bernard  Shaw:  His  Life  and  Work.  Hutchinson 
&  Co.  (London).  Stewart  &  Kidd  Co.  (Cincinnati). 
William  Janies.  Translation  (by  Barbara,  and  Archibald 
Henderson)  of  the  French  work  by  Emile  Boutroux. 

1913.  European  Dramatists.  Steward  and  Kidd  Co.  (Cincinnati). 

Grant  Richards  (London). 

1914.  O.  Henry:  a  Memorial  Essay.  Mutual  Publishing  Co. 

(Raleigh,  N.  C.) 

The  Changing  Drama.  Henry  Holt  and  Co.  (New  York). 
Grant  Richards  (London). 

1915.  Modern  Drama  and  Opera.  Volume  II.  Edited,  with 

introduction  and  three  bibliographies,  by  Archibald 
Henderson.  Boston  Book  Co. 

A  False  Saint.  By  Franqois  de  Curel.  Translated  by  B. 
H.  Clark,  with  critical  introduction  by  Archibald 
Henderson.  Drama  League  Series  of  Plays.  Double¬ 
day,  Page  &  Co.  (New  York). 

1917.  The  Prince  of  Parthia.  By  Thomas  Godfrey.  With  critical, 

biographical,  and  historical  introduction  by  Archibald 
Henderson.  Little,  Brown  &  Co.  (Boston). 

1918.  European  Dramatists.  Enlarged  edition,  containing  new 

essay,  on  Arthur  Schnitzler.  Stewart  and  Kidd  Co. 
(Cincinnati) . 

George  Bernard  Shaw:  ILis  Life  and  Works.  Popular 
Edition.  Boni  and  Liveright,  Inc. 

1919.  The  Star  of  Empire.  Seeman  (Durham,  N.  C. ). 

The  Changing  Drama.  New  edition,  with  introduction  to 
new  edition.  Stewart  and  Kidd  Co.  (Cincinnati). 

1920.  The  Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest.  With  sub-title: 
The  Romantic  Story  of  the  Early  Pioneers  into  Virginia, 

the  Carolinas,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky.  1740-1790. 
The  Century  Company  (New  York). 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


II. 

Periodical  Publications. 

Below  appear  the  titles  of  some  representative  essays  and 
articles  chosen  from  the  entire  range  of  the  author’s  periodical 
contribution. 

1901.  Modern  Science  in  Modern  Fiction.  “North  Carolina 

University  Magazine”  (April). 

1902.  Maurice  Maeterlinck  and  the  Drama  of  Suggestion.  Ibid. 

(May). 

1903.  Edmond  Rostand.  “Charlotte  Daily  Observer,”  Sunday, 

Sept.  27.  Signed  “Erskine  Steele.” 

Social  Dramas  of  Henrik  Ibsen.  Ibid.  Sunday  editions, 
October  11  and  25.  Signed  “Erskine  Steele.” 

1904.  Literature  in  the  South.  Ibid.  March  27. 

Maurice  Maeterlinck  as  a  Dramatic  Artist .  “Sewanee 
Review”  (April). 

The  Present  Vogue  of  Mr.  Shaw.  “Reader  Magazine” 
(June). 

The  Duel  of  Sex.  Being  a  review  of  G.  B.  Shaw’s  “Man 
and  Superman.”  “The  Dial”  (July  16). 

Arnold  Daly  and  Bernard  Shaw.  “The  Arena”  (No¬ 
vember). 

1905.  Henrik  Ibsen  and  Social  Progress.  Ibid.  (January). 
Gerhart  Hauptmann:  Social  Idealist.  Ibid.  (March). 

1906.  Fiction  and  Social  Ethics.  “South  Atlantic  Quarterly” 

(July) 

1907.  George  Bernard  Shaw.  “North  American  Review” 

(June  7). 

George  Bernard  Shaw.  “Deutsche  Revue,”  Stuttgart  and 
Berlin.  (August.)  In  German. 

John  Charles  McNeill.  “Charlotte  Observer”  (No¬ 
vember  2). 

1908.  The  Real  Bernard  Shaw.  “Munsey’s  Magazine”  (Jan- 

uary)., 

La  Carrier e  de  Bernard  Shaw .  “La  Societe  Nouvelle,” 
Ghent  and  Paris.  (May.)  In  French. 

The  Ibsen  Harvest.  “Atlantic  Monthly”  (August). 

George  Meredith.  “North  American  Review”  (Septem-  • 
ber). 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


1909.  The  Philosophy  of  Bernard  Shaw.  “Atlantic  Monthly’7 
(February).  , 

The  Evolution  of  Dramatic  Technique.  “North  American 
Review”  (March). 

1909.  Mark  Twain.  “Harper’s  Magazine”  (May). 

Academic  Ambassadors.  “Outlook”  (June  19). 

Old  Edinburgh.  “Harper’s  Magazine”  (October). 
Meredith  in  Broken  Doses.  “Forum”  (October). 

Mark  Twain — wie  er  ist.  “Deutsche  Revue”  (November). 

In  German. 

1910.  Henrik  Ibsen:  the  Evolution  of  his  Mind  and  Art.  “North 

Carolina  Review”;  May,  June,  July,  August,  Sep¬ 
tember. 

Christian  Reid.  “Sewanee  Review”  (April). 

New  Light  on  Ibsen.  “Twentieth  Century  Magazine” 
(May) . 

The  Real  Mansfield.  “Forum”  (June). 

How  Ibsen  Made  His  Plays.  “Bookman”  (July). 

How  Ibsen  Created  a  Masterpiece.  “Sterling  Magazine” 
(October) . 

1910.  Votes  for  Women  in  England.  “Forum”  (November). 
The  Passion-Play  at  Ober-Ammergau.  “Theatre”  (No¬ 
vember)  . 

In  Praise  of  Bridges.  “Harper’s  Magazine”  (November). 
Wagnerian  Musical  Festival  at  Munich.  “Theatre” 
( December) . 

The  International  Fame  of  Mark  Twain.  “North  Ameri¬ 
can  Review”  (December). 

1911.  The  Message  of  Tolstoy.  “Forum”  (February). 

Mark  Twain  also  Philo  soph,  Moralist,  und  Sociologe. 

“Deutsche  Revue”  (February).  In  German. 

George  Meredith.  “Deutsche  Revue”  (April).  In  German. 
England:  Phases  and  Impressions.  “T.  P.’s  Magazine,” 
London.  (April.) 

Bernard  Shaw  also  Dramatiker.  “Deutsche  Revue” 
(June).  In  German. 

Bernard  Shaw.  “Finsk  Tidskrift,”  Helsingfors.  (June.) 
The  New  Drama  in  England.  “Forum”  (June). 

Bernard  Shaw  Intime.  “Mercure  de  France”  (June  1). 
In  French. 


ARCHIBALD  HENDERSON 


1911.  Richard  Strauss.  “Forum”  (October). 

1912.  Interpreting  American  Literature  for  the  Germans.” 

“Dial”  (May  1). 

H.  Granville  Barker.  “Mercure  de  France”  (May  16). 
In  French. 

Elizabeth  Maxzvell  Steel.  “North  Carolina  Booklet” 
(October) . 

The  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence.  “Journal 
of  American  History.”  Vol.  vi,  No.  4. 

Arthur  Schnitzler.  “North  American  Review”  (No¬ 
vember)  . 

1913.  Forerunners  of  the  Republic.  “Neale’s  Monthly”  (Jan¬ 

uary- June). 

Democracy  and  Literature.  “South  Atlantic  Quarterly” 
(April) . 

The  Printed  Play:  a  New  Technic.  “Drama”  (November). 

1914.  Transvaluation  of  Contemporary  Dramatic  Values. 

“Drama”  (  August ) . 

Margaret  Busbee  Shipp.  “Skyland”  (September). 

The  Creative  Forces  in  Westward  Expansion.  “American 
Historical  Review”  (October). 

1914.  Richard  Henderson  and  the  Occupation  of  Kentucky . 

“Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Review”  (December). 

1915.  0.  Henry  and  North  Carolina.  “Nation”  (January  14). 
Hymns  of  Hate  and  Songs  of  Love.  “Nation”  (March  11). 
The  Published  Play.  “Drama”  (May). 

“ Self-Consciousness  of  the  States.”  “New  York  Evening 
Post”  (August  7). 

Sense  and  Nonsense  About  Bernard  Shaw.  “Dial”  (Sep¬ 
tember  16). 

1916.  America  and  the  Drama.  “Texas  Review”  (January). 
Origin  of  the  Regulation  in  North  Carolina.  “American 

Historical  Review”  (January). 

The  Revolution  in  North  Carolina  in  1775.  Privately 
printed. 

The  Founding  of  Nashville.  “Tennessee  Historical 
Magazine”  (September). 

1917.  0.  Henryana.  “Yale  Review”  (April). 

A  Federalist  of  the  Old  School.  “North  Carolina  Book¬ 
let.”  (July  and  October). 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE 


From  Primitive  Man  to  Modern  Civilization.  “Bookman’' 
(November) 

“H.  C.  L.”  “Bookman”  (December). 

The  Spanish  Conspiracy  in  Tennessee.  “Tennessee  His¬ 
torical  Magazine”  (December). 

1918.  Democracy  and  American  Ideals.  “Bookman”  (May). 

1919.  John  Steele.  “North  Carolina  Booklet”  (January  and 

April). 

1920.  An  Interesting  Colonial  Document.  “Virginia  Magazine 

of  History  and  Biography”  (January). 

Daniel  Boone  and  the  American  Pioneer.  “Century 
Magazine”  (September). 

1921.  The  Litchfield  Law  School.  “Tyler’s  Quarterly  Historical 

and  Genealogical  Magazine”  (April). 

Bernard  Shaw  Redivivus.  “New  York  Times  Book  Re¬ 
view”  (June  12). 

1922.  George  Rogers  Clark  and  the  Conquest  of  the  Northwest. 

“Alumni  Bulletin,”  University  of  Virginia  (January). 
The  University  of  Virginia.  “Literary  Review.”  (January). 
George  Washington  Swings  the  Circle.  “New  York  Times 
Book  Review”  (February  19). 

Andrew  Jackson:  North  or  South  Carolinian ?  Ibid. 
(September  3). 

The  Human  Estimate  of  Washington.  Ibid.  (October  22). 
Mr.  Shaw  Takes  Up  Prison  Reform.  Ibid  (October  29). 
The  South  in  Art.  “Carolina  Magazine” — Southern  Arts 
Number  (December). 


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